Norwich City will welcome Premier League giants Chelsea to Carrow Road next month after receiving a dream home draw in the third round of the FA Cup.

The Canaries will take on the defending top flight champions at Carrow Road on the weekend of January 6, with the tie certain to be a strong candidate for live coverage.

The draw is a timely boost for club following a run of seven matches without a win in the Sky Bet Championship that has seen Daniel Farke’s side drop to 15th position, 11 points adrift of the play-off positions.

Chelsea, in contrast, recently qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League and currently lie third in the Premier League.

The two sides last met at Carrow Road in March 2016, with Alex Neil’s side giving a good account of themselves before going down 2-1 in a Premier League fixture. Trailing 2-0 at the break to an early strike from Kenedy and a goal from Diego Costa just before the break that looked suspiciously offside, City hit back through Nathan Redmond but couldn’t force an equaliser.

The previous FA Cup meeting, also in the third round, came in the 2001-2 season, when Nigel Worthington’s side were battling for promotion to the top flight. Chelsea had to battle hard to come away from Carrow Road with a 0-0 draw but won the replay at Stamford Bridge comfortably, with their 4-0 success best remembered for a superb backheeled goal from Gianfranco Zola.

Fellow Italian and current Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is likely to bring plenty of international stars with him to Norfolk, with the likes of Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata and Willian springing to mind, although it remains to be seen if he shuffles his pack after a hectic round of league games over the festive period.